Blue lights, sirens and police-issue weapons seized

GAUTENG police caught six heavily armed men napping in their Troyeville, Johannesburg, lair in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Police said an intensive investigation by detectives led to a property on Beeleart Street, a stone's throw away from Troyeville Primary School, where dozens of tenants rent rooms in a house and the backyard.

The six men, aged between 20 and 27, were surprised by the police at around 3.30am.

Kitted in private clothes and travelling in unmarked vehicles, police arrived at the house and went straight to the hideout.

They kicked the door in and found all the men huddled inside with a stash of three R-5 assault rifles, several rounds of ammunition and police-issue blue lights and sirens. The rifles are also police-issue weapons.

"Our provincial members were following up on information that led them to the property," said provincial police spokeswoman Captain Pinky Tsinyane.

She said police were not ruling out the possibility that the men had been involved in several robberies and shooting incidents in the area.

"There was a shooting around Jeppestown where two officers were shot and injured. We are looking at the possibility of these men being involved in that," Tsinyane said.

One of the men was separated from the others and placed in a vehicle on his own.

Officers explained to Sowetan that he was considered to be the most dangerous and trigger-happy of the gang.

The men will appear in court on possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition charges.

Police said they were carrying out further investigations and more charges could be brought against the men.

.

moengk@sowetan.co.za